Carbon Pulse

A committee of the US wholesale electricity market operator PJM on Thursday voted to assess methods of integrating a carbon price in the 14-jurisdiction market, a policy that could alleviate concerns about emissions leakage in the northeast US RGGI cap-and-trade programme.

EUAs lost more ground on Thursday but kept within sight of their 11-year highs near €28 in choppy, technically-bound trade amid bullish energy signals.

California officials on Thursday offered a strong rebuke to an academic report that claims California’s forestry protocol under its carbon market inflates the amount of emission reductions that have occurred, arguing the study did not fully understand the protocol or leakage risk.

California legislators may take action on the WCI cap-and-trade programme's growing allowance oversupply if state regulator ARB refuses to do so, a state senator told Carbon Pulse.

Spain-based utility Iberdrola reported a 22% hike in its remaining ETS-regulated thermal output over Q1 as gas-fired production replaced hydro, the company said in financial results on Thursday.

Carbon prices in South Korea’s emissions trading scheme rose to all-time highs on Thursday as the ongoing supply drought continued to push up prices.

A daily summary of our news plus bite-sized updates from around the world.

California regulator ARB defended its decision to maintain the current emissions cap trajectory of its WCI-linked ETS to 2030, despite confirming that there were more than 218 million surplus compliance units at the end of the market's second compliance period, according to a letter sent to legislators Tuesday.

Oregon’s proposed cap-and-trade scheme would be undersupplied from day one and would absorb more than 40 Mt from the wider WCI market over the next decade if legislation currently on the table is passed, analysts predict.

A new Climate Action Reserve (CAR) protocol aims to reduce costs for voluntary urban forestry projects, but the methodology would have to demonstrate success and pass other regulatory hurdles to become eligible for WCI compliance-grade offsets, a company official said.

Prince Edward Island’s Progressive Conservative party won the right to form a minority government in Tuesday’s election, but a historic showing by the Greens offers the possibility of changing climate politics in Canada’s smallest province.

Privately-held Czech company EPH will purchase two Northern Ireland thermal plants from US firm AES, consolidating its position as the second biggest emitter in the EU ETS.

California regulator ARB distributed 125,900 California Carbon Offsets (CCOs) this week, in the lightest issuance of the year to date.

California should drop its move toward allowing REDD tropical forest protection credits in its carbon market, because it won’t ensure emission cuts and could pave the way for much greater use by airlines under the UN’s CORSIA offsetting mechanism, a cross-party group of EU lawmakers warned on Wednesday.

EUAs slipped on Wednesday as a weak auction result pushed carbon back to technical support levels and further away from the 11-year high near €28 that was approached a day earlier.

Virginia’s final cap-and-trade regulation includes language to implement the programme even if it faces any delays from the Republican-controlled legislature, while deferring a decision on regulating biomass emissions to future programme reviews, according to a Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) presentation.

South Korean carbon allowances rose to 10-month highs in Wednesday trade as available supply remained elusive, driving buyers to bid higher with just over two months left to the compliance deadline.

Japan is in the final stages of developing its long term climate action plan with focus firmly on technology development, sparking criticism that the government is “procrastinating”.

The Canadian industry associations’ claims about the negative impact of carbon pricing on jobs and competitiveness are exaggerated and lack empirical evidence. Pollution pricing incentivises companies to innovate, which will be necessary to guarantee their competitiveness in the long-term.

A daily summary of our news plus bite-sized updates from around the world.